Wilomena: The Land of Dreams and Nightmares
by John Chalmers, illustrated by Sandra Marrs
Interest age: 8 to 14
Reading age: 9+
Published by Scholastic, 2026
About this book
Wilomina is trapped in Nocturna, the land of dreams and nightmares. She must find her father and her baby brother Kes, and the portal back home. But the land is being taken over by nightmares, and everything is grimmifying. Wilomina and Mephisto, the talking cat she befriends, are chased by terrifying monsters, including a ghost spector, a dragon and the pernicious black fog, Worst of all, Wilomina is turning into a werepire whenever she gets cross - the most ferocious monster of all. Can she save her family and find the way home?
This thrilling, surreal adventure is packed with action from the get-go. The creators are also known as 'Metaphrog' and have pored their love of graphic novels and comics into this first story of their own. Full of fantastical creatures and explosive action scenes, it whisks the reader into an exciting quest, while also including plenty of emotion, and an exploration of friendship. The brilliant artwork is full of detail, with expressive characters, and the fantasy world of Nocturna is tinted with purples and pinks, lending it an eerie feel. The font is in sentence case. Ideal for fans of the Amulet series, and of Studio Ghibli.
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Lists of recommended reads
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Graphic novels (Middle Grade)
These comics and graphic novels offer a different route into discovering the pleasure of reading. This selection is for children who can read themselves and who enjoy a visual narrative too.